Happy Birthday Echo!
by Katla1
Summary: Everyone else has a birthday, why can't Echo Zane have one? The Ninja decide to throw Echo a surprise birthday party, but it might have to be canceled when they lose one very important piece. (One-shot. No slash/no swearing)


**AN: While writing a longer story for my sister's birthday I thought, 'What am I doing? Why am I not writing a birthday themed story?' Hence this one-shot was born. (And thank God, because the other one was really frustrating me.)**

 **So, HAPPY BIRTHDAY SIS! I hope you like it!**

 **Summary: While trying to throw a surprise party for Echo, a very important piece of the party goes missing.**

* * *

"Does Echo have a birthday?" Jay asked.

Silence. Everyone in the room glanced at one another. Nobody had ever thought of it before. Echo Zane had lived with them for almost a year now. The anniversary of the day they'd discovered the nindroid in the lighthouse was fast approaching. And what a day to celebrate! Echo was fun, cute, loyal, brave, curious, innocent, and their little brother. Even though he was somewhat of a special needs child so far, with all the kinks that needed to be worked through each day, (from bodily repairs to teaching him how to act in society) the Ninja had come to love him immediately. He was special.

But when had all of that been built?

"We could always ask him." Cole suggested. He sat on the couch, reading a comic, while Zane performed balancing exercises in the corner. Lloyd had just finished putting an X on the calendar, which had prompted Jay to ask the question.

Zane shook his head. "He would not remember. Even if he did recall waking for the first time, he would not be able to know the date."

"We could just celebrate it on the day we found him." Lloyd said, crashing on the couch.

"Hmm... It's not the same." Jay mused.

"Well, when else would we celebrate it?" Cole asked. "There's not really any way to find out the day he was built."

"Maybe we could!"

Zane hummed, focusing on holding his one-handed hand-stand. "Not unless our father had a journal."

"Couldn't he have, though?" Jay sat cross-legged on the floor.

"It is possible, but if he did, it is hidden. To my knowledge he destroyed many of his writings to keep them out of the hands of the Skulkin Army, and most of the blue prints we found did not have dates written on them."

Jay didn't answer, and appeared lost in thought.

* * *

"Guys! Guys!"

Nya looked up from the work she was doing at the Destiney's Bounty's main computer. "What's up Jay?" She asked as he dashed into the control room.

Jay looked around. "Where is everyone?"

"Lloyd's on patrol, Zane and Echo are off doing nindroid stuff," she smiled, "they're probably at the library. Where were you?"

"Finding Echo's birthday!"

Nya cocked an eyebrow. "Come again?"

"Nya I found it! Remember we were - oh that's right, you weren't there. But last week we were talking about Echo Zane and wondering when his birthday was, and I couldn't stop thinking about it, so all this week I've been visiting the lighthouse to see if I could find anything, and - "

"You what!" Nya snapped. "Jay, what if something had happened to you? We wouldn't know where you were!"

Jay blinked. "It's not that big a deal. Why would anything bad happen?"

"Ugh! Why wouldn't you think to ask for help looking for whatever you were looking for? Echo probably knows that place top to bottom."

"I was really focused! I just had to go out and do it!"

Nya rolled her eyes.

"Nya, listen. I _found_ Echo's birthday!"

"Did you actually find out when he was built?" Nya leaned forward in her seat, starting to look a bit excited.

Jay nodded his head vigorously. Then shook it. "More like... I found a rough estimate. But just listen. We know when Dr. Julien was taken prisoner. It was right when Zane went off on his own, so that means when Samukai took Dr. Julien to the lighthouse, Master Wu was just finding Zane to train him to be a ninja. We defeated the Skeleton Army, so Dr. Julien stayed locked in the light house until we found a couple years later. Echo could only have been built in those few years."

"Hold on, Jay." Nya held up a hand. "So far this only hints at how old Echo is, not the day he was built. Still... that means he's," her eyes widened, "way younger than I thought."

"I think he was built on or around January twenty-fourth."

"Why?"

"I hope I'm right, because I had to do SO much reading." Jay's shoulders sagged as if they were weighed down. "I must have read every piece of paper there. I looked over Echo's blue prints, and they didn't have a date written on them, but I found some notes that did! They were in an old drawer, on the only thing - other than the blue prints - that mentioned him. It said January twenty-fourth!"

"What else did they say?" Nya got to her feet.

"Ah, um... Mostly just... about his flawed design. And some repairs and upgrades that maybe could be done. But by the sounds of it, Echo hadn't been around very long yet!"

Nya nodded, not meeting his eyes for a moment. Then she smiled. "This is great news, Jay! You're crazy for trying, but you're also brilliant."

"We've gotta tell the others!"

* * *

That night Jay called for a meeting with all the Ninja, and he made it clear that Echo couldn't know about it. Zane sent Echo to bed ahead of him, and Echo went to sleep using the power down feature that Nya had installed (being mostly wind up powered before, rest was not an option. If he wanted to live, he or Gizmo had to remember to wind his clock again). Since joining the Ninja, Jay and Nya had made many such upgrades. Once all the Ninja were around the dining table, Jay made his announcement.

"Do any of you remember talking about finding out Echo's birthday? Well I found it!"

"Wait, I don't remember talking about this." Kai furrowed his brow.

"You were asleep." Lloyd told him. "It was the day you had that rough patrol."

"You found it?" Zane straightened in his seat.

"Pretty much." Nya smiled.

"I found some notes that mentioned him after he'd been up and running for a little while, and they had a date on them."

"What was it?" Zane asked.

"And when did you sneak off to the light house?" Cole demanded.

"He's been sneaking off there all week!" Nya scoffed.

"Jay!"

Jay smiled sheepishly and ducked, his ears burning.

"Jay!" Zane leaned forward. "What date was it?"

"January twenty-fourth."

Zane sat back again in silence for a moment. Then he smiled.

Lloyd looked at Jay. "That's only a few days away!"

"Hey, yeah!" Kai beamed.

"That's why I wanted this meeting to be secret." Jay continued. "So that we could throw Echo a surprise party!"

"That's a great idea!" Lloyd grinned.

"Yeah!" Nya beamed. "He was totally into your party, Kai!"

"So many shiny things to look at!" Kai laughed.

"What do you think, Zane?" Cole asked, noticing the ice ninja wasn't saying anything, but was smiling softly.

Zane nodded, his blue eyes focused on something only he could see. "I think it is a great idea. Thank you, Jay," he looked up at him, "for finding it."

* * *

Over the next few days, all the ninja continued to meet in secret when they could to discuss plans and exchange ideas. Even Wu and Misako were in on it. Cole insisted they have birthday cake, because no party was complete without it, but that raised the question about food. Echo was a nindroid, and still a rough design at that, nothing like Dr. Julien's design for the original Zane, who could pass as human. Echo couldn't and didn't need to eat. Nya pointed out that the focus should be on Echo blowing out his candles, and then all the food could be put to the side for everyone else to snack on when they felt like it.

The biggest part would be the decorations and the presents. Echo loved his New Things, as he called them. He had been compiling a collection of trinkets and other things he'd never seen before while locked away in the lighthouse. Anything new always caught his eye, and his curiosity remained endless. Any time the Ninja could get into town that week, they made sure to buy a gift or a party decoration he could add to his collection.

So far, Echo didn't seem to suspect anything at all. He was so naive still, and didn't comprehend a lot about human culture, very much like Zane had been at first, only more extreme.

Then the day came: the 24th of January. Sunshine bathed the deck of the Destiney's Bounty and shone through the windows. Everyone was up early, and most of them were too excited to speak.

Echo tilted the small, tin watering can over the side of the flower pot and watered the earth until it was dark. He then set the can back down on the window sill and smiled at the tender plant growing in front of him, admiring how the leaf glowed bright green in the sunlight. He'd found the nut in the park with Zane one afternoon, and when his older brother told him he could grow it he'd been thrilled. Now it was about four inches tall, alive and swaying in the breeze, and he'd all but fallen in love with it.

"You have a gift."

Echo turned to see the Sensei standing in the bedroom doorway. He bowed slightly as he'd seen the others do. Master Wu smiled at the gesture. Echo loved Wu's smile. It made his eyes sparkle and crinkle in the corners.

"What gift?"

"With this sapling." Sensei told him, stepping further into the room. "Many people could not nourish it even to this height. They might neglect it or over-water it. You have tended it well, and in turn it has grown for you."

Echo looked at his sprout, then back at Wu, and smiled softly.

"Would you like to see if there are any other talents you hide?"

"Yes, Sensei!" Echo held the Ninja's teacher in high reverence, sensing an almost supernatural aura about him. The Master used to frighten him. He carried himself so tall, and his presence felt so powerful, it was easy for him to be intimidating, but his good nature had quickly won Echo over.

What he didn't know was that at that moment Sensei Wu was luring him off the Bounty so everyone else could set up for the party. Even though he'd protested, they'd insisted he should be the one to do it. He could disguise it as a lesson of some kind. He'd asked why Zane or Jay couldn't do it, but they wanted to help make sure the party was perfect. No, Sensei Wu was definitely the best man for the job this time. Much to Wu's chagrine.

"Come with me then," Sensei Wu motioned with his staff for the young nindroid to follow. Filled with eagerness, Echo followed like a duckling follows its mother.

They left the ship and visited a quiet section of the park, passing the Titanium Ninja statue on the way. Echo fixed his gaze on it as long as he could. He'd seen it before, of course, but it mesmerized him. It was Zane - his brother. And it stood there to remind the world that Zane was a hero.

They both stopped atop a breezy knoll, and Wu folded his legs and bent his head, slipping into a meditative pose.

His newest pupil blinked. A minute of silence passed, toyed by the wind. Echo sat down on the grass and mirrored the Sensei's posture.

A minute passed. Two.

"What are we doing now, Sensei?" Echo asked.

 _I have no idea_ , Wu thought.

The wise Spinjitsu Master looked up and met Echo's gaze. "Despite being a machine, you seem to love the natural world."

Echo nodded. "It is beautiful. There is always something to learn."

"What are you learning now?"

He looked around a bit before turning back to Master Wu. "Nothing."

 _What am I doing?_ Wu's inner voice screamed at him.

"Look again. It's good practice to always be aware of your surroundings. Especially if you are a ninja."

Echo looked around again, and this time his attention gravitated toward the trees on the other side of the knoll. "Look! Look at those squirrels!" He pointed and sprang to his feet.

A mother and her two babies flickered from tree to tree searching for a snack. Echo ran toward them. He'd never seen such tiny squirrels before.

"Echo!" Sensei Wu started. He jumped up and raced after his charge, easily keeping pace, and somewhat fascinated at what he might do. The squirrels, of course, darted up a tree in a flash, and then to Sensei's shock, Echo ran right up after them.

* * *

"What do you mean you have lost him?!" Zane exclaimed.

"I mean he just ran across the treetops as if he were a squirrel himself and disappeared!"

"How?" Zane was becoming breathless with disbelief - and maybe panic. "Sensei, you must be just as nimble as he is."

"I'm not the same brown as the tree trunks and my feet don't stick to them, either!" Wu snapped. He felt quite cross and foolish. He was a Sensei for crying out loud! He'd traversed the tallest mountains and delved into the deepest forest. He'd trained seven unruly teens into formidable foes. How had one rambunctious nindroid escaped him?

Lloyd, Zane, and Jay had come to the park to tell Wu everything was ready. They'd found Wu, only now they were missing the most important part of the party: the person it was for!

"What are we going to do?" Lloyd asked. Jay was too busy ripping out his hair to ask the question.

"Get the others and search the entire park, paying special attention to the trees." Master Wu grumbled. "He's terribly good at hiding."

Jay nodded in agreement and despair.

* * *

The entire team rushed to the ground to search for its youngest member, Misako berating Wu for his carelessness until he grew so frustrated he told her to shut up. Everyone split up, Wu and Zane searching the treed area Echo had vanished into. Zane had the built-in tech to scan for his younger brother, but vowed that he would get Jay and Nya to connect them with a signal he could track in the future, should this happen again. Meanwhile, Wu vowed that he was going to find the missing bot and banish his embarassment caused by the whole mess.

Jay and Nya were patrolling the sidewalk that went around the entire park. Jay was hyperventilating. Nya had a headache because Jay was hyperventilating. What if Echo had left? What if he was roaming the city? What if he got hit by a car? What if he'd actually never left and was stuck in a tree because the squirrels had ripped his wires out?

* * *

Echo crouched on a firm bough and peered inside the knothole the squirrel family had whisked into. The mother's beady eyes twinkled in the dark, and her nose twitched at the strange mix of both metal and human smell. Echo smiled and poured in a few nuts he'd collected into the tiny home. Then he waved goodbye.

"I am sorry for chasing you." He said. "But now I have at least learned where squirrels live. It was nice to meet your family, and I promise not to chase you again, even if it was fun. I am going to find my Sensei now. Bye!"

With that, Echo turned and jumped out of the tree, a branch scratching his face plating on the way down. He looked at the offending branch, smiled, plucked a leaf from it, and headed back the way he'd come.

* * *

Everybody had combed through their assigned section of the park and had all regrouped with the exception of Lloyd, Cole, and of course, Echo. By now all of them had grown equally concerned. Jay kept his mouth shut now, but no one was as silent as Zane. He felt cold and distant. He didn't look angry, but nobody dared talk to him.

They made their way back to the knoll where they'd all started the search. When they looked up, they saw Lloyd and Cole standing at the top, waving to them. They all trudged up the side, and Zane looked back over his shoulder at the trees. Why... why hadn't he sensed anything?

The top of the knoll rolled out in front of them. And there, sitting with his legs crossed on the grass, was...

"Echo!" Everyone exclaimed. Zane looked up, and everyone grinned as he flew to his brother.

"We found him sitting right here." Lloyd beamed, watching Zane stand Echo up and check him over.

"Your face!" Zane cried, crestfallen at the sight of the scratch running from his temple to his chin. "What happened? Where were you?!"

"He's ok, Zane! He's ok!" Nya laughed, running up and hugging them both. Jay crashed into them and wrapped them in his arms. Cole slung his arm around Echo's shoulder, and Kai laughed as he and Lloyd joined the group hug.

By now, Echo was beaming like a Christmas light with all the affection he was receiving. When everyone backed away, he projected all his joy toward Sensei Wu.

"Sensei! I found out where the squirrels live! Did you know they hole up in trees?"

Wu smiled and shut his eyes, shaking his head.

"You are in so much trouble!" Jay exclaimed.

Echo's smile was replaced with confusion. "Why?"

* * *

With Echo safely back on the Bounty, they had yet another reason to celebrate: Their brother was safe. They led him inside, shouting, "Surprise!" For a moment he stood rooted to the spot, gaze flitting from all the streamers, balloons, plants, wrapped presents, shiny things galore, to each member of his family. He pointed to himself.

"Yes, it's for you, silly!" Kai said.

"It's your birthday party!" Jay grinned.

"I get one?"

"Jay found out when you were built!"

"Of course you get one!"

"Come on! Get in here!"

A grin split his features as Echo was pulled into the room. For a moment it was all overwhelming and he ran around in circles on the floor, walls, and ceiling, darting from one fancy thing to the next. When he found out about the party horns he almost went nuts, and Zane had to calm him down a bit to make sure he - and nothing else - fell apart.

Obviously, the party was a hit. At first Master Wu felt a touch stand-offish, but Echo soon had him participating. The day slipped by with lots of laughs, presents, and food. The room was also a mess, but nobody seemed to care.

The sky started to glow pink. Echo sat in the window, a party hat on his head and his metal work painted by the sunset. He was looking over the felt flowers that Nya had given him. The chatter in the room had calmed down. Echo looked up at Zane.

"Zane, why am I in trouble again?"

Zane smiled. "You are not in trouble, Echo." He said. "Somehow I wonder if you ever will be."

* * *

 **AN: I winged this and wrote it over the course of several hours, and I'm surprised how much I enjoyed writing it (meaning: I'm surprised it wasn't complete torture and it didn't turn out like crud). And I was not expecting Master Wu to have a role in this at all, but somehow he did and I think the result is hilarious! XD The fact that he of all people lost Echo had me chuckling at the thought, and laughing out loud as I wrote it down.**

 **Echo's birth date is completely random. The Pilot episodes aired January 14, 2011, Dr. Julien was imprisoned in the lighthouse at that time, and LittleCanadian's b-day is the 23rd, so I just chose January 24.**

 **I hope you enjoyed this! Thank you for reading! HAPPY BIRTHDAY LittleCanadian!**


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